So Gary, I assume you’ve made your London Broil already. What method did you use and how did you like it?
Also, can someone give a rough cooking time for a roast in a pressure cooker?
H.
Boiled meat is terrible. Braising is NOT the same as boiling. When braising, the liquid should come up to the meat’s shoulders, and it should be at a slight simmer, not a roiling boil. Collagen, the chewy connective tissue, dissolves between 110F and 195F; this is what keeps braised meats tender and what generates the gelatin to give it a rich mouth-feel. Thus the ideal braising temperature is around 175-190F, well below boiling at 212F. As the temperature rises, muscle fibers shrink and get chewy. Never ever boil meat.
As for the chinese pot, if it’s enamelled cast iron, great. I’ve seen some le creuset knock-offs that were really quite substandard. Just buy the real thing. They aren’t cheap, but they’ll outlast human civilization.
You don’t cook a roast in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are for braises only, low, wet, and slow. Roasts are cooked hot, dry, and fast.
Anyone interested in the science of cooking should read this book. Very educational and a great read.
I just might pick that book up, stusser can really whip out the cooking knowledge.
I’ve read the McGee book, it’s fun. Didn’t make me a great chef, but it explains the principles behind many aspects of cooking.
Well, if you don’t mind spending $200+ on cast iron, knock yourself out. But get a complete set of All-Clad first, and a Ferrari. Cause cars are fun.
Alton Brown’s book is like McGee for dummies, and it’s also good (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584790830/sr=8-1/qid=1141606394/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0697363-0121424?_encoding=UTF8).
stusser is almost right. the reason why meat turns out so wonderful in a pressure cooker, is because the pressure causes the water to boil/steam at a temperature much lower than 212 degrees.
it’s true that the liquid in the cooker must be boiled to attain a pressure seal, but once that’s done, you turn the heat down. It ends up simmering. Simmering under pressure. Cooks much faster, and retains all the flavor and collagen and stuff.
Houngan, depends on what kind of roast. Pot roast, 15 minutes a pound, corned beef, 20 minutes a pound, a horse’s leg, I don’t know.
You don’t cook a roast in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are for braises only, low, wet, and slow. Roasts are cooked hot, dry, and fast.
I apologize for not caring if it’s called a “roast” or a “braise.” It’s meat and I cook it and I eat it. Let’s call it “meat.”
Much (actually, somwhat) higher than 212 degrees. That’s why you can boil something in a pressure cooker much faster than you can in a regular pot.
[size=-2]Mmmmmm… boiled meat.[/size]
BBQ… all the way.
Make sure you marinate first…cut thinly along the grain.
It is often not true London Broil - and not as tender than if you got it from a butcher-- def slow cook on the bbq tho.
You’ve got it backwards. Water boils at 212F at sea level. At higher pressure, it boils at higher temperatures. Pressure cookers work quickly because steam is roughly six times more efficient than air in transferring heat to food, and at high pressure, you can create steam much hotter than 212F. Under pressure up to 15psi, 260F steam is literally forced through food via convection currents, cooking it quickly and tenderizing with an abrasive action.
As for calling a braise a roast, that’s roughly analagous to calling bread pudding toast.
McGee’s book is awesome, but I’d recommend picking up the Second Edition, which has been substantially revised and updated from the first edition first published some twenty years ago.
…but say there’s a person’s significant other who, in following the directions to cook a roast in a crockpot, managed to get the meat tasteless and chewy and the vegetables undercooked. What would this hypothetical person have done wrong?
Good call, I linked to the older version accidentally.
Meat tasteless: not enough salt, not enough fat, or not browned properly before braising
Meat stringy: cooked too hot or too long (usually too hot)
Veggies undercooked: not cooked long enough
Yeah, somebody was impatient with the slow cooking process and thought “hotter=faster” which ain’t the way it goes in crockpot (or any) cooking.
That’s . . . not really correct. Hotter is indeed faster, but different things can happen at hotter temperatures. Some things can’t be cooked hotter and come out well, some things can.
I see the point about roasts not really being roasts when done in a crockpot, it’s a common term for “big cheap piece of meat cooked slowly” as opposed to a specification of the cooking process.
Anyway, since nobody would post a recipe, I just cooked a large, cheap piece of meat, which I’m going to call a roast, in a pressure cooker. FWIW, it turned out better than any of my previous braising efforts.
Sear meat to death in oil on all sides, S&P rub beforehand. Remove meat.
add 1/2 onion, turn down heat, cook to translucent.
Add 1/2 gr. pepper, couple of carrots, 1/2 cup of bl. olives, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar. Little cumin, perhaps.
Replace meat, bury in veg/liquid. If liquid doesn’t come to 2/3 up the meat, add stock for bulk.
Cover, bring up to pressure, cook for 45 min. Turn off heat or quick-release steam, flip meat, bring back up, cook for 10 min.
It came out with a nice texture on outside, little crusty from the sear, and shredded with a fork easily. Excellent flavor.
H.
Huh. I’m going to have to read this thread again from the beginning. Sorry.